Apparatus for joining railway-rails.



No. 800,213. PATENTBD sRPT.26,1905.

- c. F. JACOBS.

APPARATUS FOR JOINING RAILWAY RAILS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 29, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE."

CHARLES F. JACOBS,-OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. APPARATUS FOR JOINING RAILWAY-RAILS.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Sept. 26, 1905.

Application filed December 29, 1904:. Serial No. 238,722-

and adaptable for the transmission of electric currents, and while it is more especially intended for use in joining the rails of electric railways, yet it is applicable for uniting rails or metallic pieces employed for other purposes; andit consists in certain peculiarities in the construction, novel arrangement, and operation of the various parts of the apparatus, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide means for joining rails which shall be simple, inexpensive, and efficient and by the use of which a much smaller quantity of metal will be required than has heretofore been necessary in the oldstyle of uniting rails, yet a continuous rail'with perfect and permanent electric conductivity will be provided at a great saving in time, labor, and' expense. I

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the subjoined description and explanation.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of two rails, showing a mold around the same at their joint ready to receive the uniting metal or material. Fig. 2 is a similar view of like parts, showing the mold removed and the completed joint of the rails. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of a portion of two rails, showing the inflatable templet located between their adjacent ends and in the act of being inflated. Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the rails, showing the inflatable templet in position at its end.v Fig. 5 is a face view of the templet, showing it inflated to correspond in outlines with the contour of i the rails and illustrating by dotted lines the mold surrounding the same. Fig. 6 is an end view of one of the rails, showing the mold therearoundand illustrating the templet in the act of being withdrawn fromsaid mold. Fig. 7 is a detached perspective view of the templet, showing it inflated and illustrating a part of its upper portion as broken away. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a part of one of the rails, showing a modification in the manner of applying the mold around the rails at the joint thereof. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modification in the construction of the templet; and Fig. 10 is a detached end view of the mold, showingamodification in its construction.

Like numeralsof reference refer to corre sponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

The reference-numerals 15 and 16 indicate portions of the rails or pieces to be joined together and, as usual, have between their adjacent ends a space 17, in which'the templet 18 may be placed, which may be made of any suitable material and of a form so that when it is inflated it will conform inoutlines t0 the contourof the rails or pieces to be joined toge'ther, thus completely and accurately filling the space between said pieces. The upper portion of the templet 18 isprovided with a tube 19, towhich may be secured a pipe20, leading to asource of air under pressure used for inflating the templet. After the templet has been placed between the adjacent ends of the rails 15 and 16 and inflated, so as to fill the intervening space, a mold 21, of any suitable plastic and non-combustible material, is then formed around the rails at their adjacent ends, so as to cover the templet and overlap a portion of each of said rails. After the material out of which the mold 21 is formed has become hard or set the templet may be withdrawn through the opening 22 in the topof the mold by permitting the air to escape through the tube 19, around which the opening 22 in the mold is formed, thus deflating it, so that it may be readily withdrawn. Instead of employing the inflatable and deflatable templet to fill the space between the adjacentends of the rails, so as to prevent the plastic material comprising the mold 21 entering the same, I may 10- cate on the outer surface of the rails at their juncture a strip 23 of any suitable material, which will be readily consumed by the heat employed for fusing the ends of the rails, yetwhich will be of sufficient durability to prevent the material comprising the mold 21 entering the space between the rails.

In Fig. 9 of the drawings I have shown an- It is apparent that the protecting-strip 23 may other modification of the templet, which consists of a hollow piece 2 1, of papier-mzich or other suitable combustible material, which is of a form and size to correspond with the outlines of the rail-sections and which may be cut transversely on thelines, as at 25, so as to be of the proper thickness to fit snugly between the adjacent ends of the rail sections.

be employed with or without the templets 18 and 2 1; but when the former is employed in conjunction therewith said strip may be formed with an opening in its upper portion for the reception of the tube 19, which opening should register with the opening 22 in the mold; but if the templet 18 is not used in conjunction with the protecti ng-stri p 23 said opening in the strip will not be necessary.

In practicing my invention either form of the templets 18 or 21 or, as before stated, the protecting-strip 23 may be employed to prevent the plastic material out of which the mold 21 is formed entering the space between the rail-sections, but when the inflatable style of templet is employed it may be withdrawn through the opening 22 in the mold, after which heat may be applied to the rails. While thus heated, molten metal of any suitable good electric conducting material may be poured through the opening 22 in the mold into the space between the rails, thus fusing with their adjacent ends and accurately and perfectly filling the space therebetween, thus forming a continuous rail with perfect and permanent electric conductivity. When the hollow templet constructed as shown in Fig. 9 of the drawings and as above set forth is employed or when the protecting-strip 28 is used, it is evident that it is unnecessary to 1 withdraw either of them from within the mold, for the reason they are made of combustible material, which will be consumed by the heat applied to the rails or that of the molten metal poured therebetween through the opening 22 in the mold.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings it will be readily understood and clearly seen that the uniting material 26, which may be of any good electric conducting substance or a com position of substances wh ieh is placed in the space between the rail-sections while in a melted condition, will completely ill said space without overrunning the same, so that when the mold is removed its walls or edges will be flush with the surfaces of the rails.

Instead of using a mold 21 made in a continnous piece, as shown in Figs. 1, 5, (5, and 8 of the drawings, I may make it of two pieces 27, as shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the rail-sections, of means at their adjacent ends to prevent matter entering the space therebetween, and an apertured mold located on the adjacent ends of the rails and around said space, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the rail-sections, of an inflatable and deliatable templet located between said sections, and an apertured mold located on the adjacent ends of the rails and around the templet, substan tially as described.

CHARLES F. JACOBS.

Vitnesses:

GiIAs. C. TILLMAN, A. (JrUs'rAFsoN. 

